Whether it is romantic, plutonic, sibling, co-worker, or parent, all of these words have a commonality. They are all relationships. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a relationship is:

“…a state of affairs existing between those having relations or dealings”

Ultimately, time is the sole requirement in maintaining any successful synergy with others. Seems like an easy concept to grasp, right? Yet, the constraint of time often hinders our ability to procure and maintain quality relationships. That being said, think about your allocation method. Do you feel like you are delegating the right amount of time to relations in your life?

Business partnerships are no different from our relationships with personal acquaintances. Spanning all industries, sales associates are often forced to limit their relationship building to an 8 hour day. With that in mind, should a sales associate spend more of their day cold calling, or checking in with those people who have been good customers in the past? I believe I have your answer.

“80% of your business should come from 20% of your customers”

I assume you have heard this phrase, but does your distribution of time portray this? Mutually beneficial relationships are the best for any business; the customer has allegiance to your business and you do to the customer.

Well, this may sound fine and dandy in hypothetical terms, but where do you start to make this a reality at your business? Great relationships must be symbiotic, so initially giving a customer your time, may not mean anything until that customer wants the same from you. A similar situation was when you first became acquainted with your wife. Until she found out about your trust fund, she wanted nothing to do with you (kidding, of course). As the courting initiator, you wanted to give her all your time, but until she reciprocated by meeting you half way, it was not a relationship (despite what you told your friends).

Just like a man’s wife, vendors are often forced to “sweeten the deal” in order to begin a long-lasting affiliation with a client. Aside from time, companies need to provide a unique value-add when vying for a client’s business, they need to court the client. One extremely successful way to achieve this is customer loyalty programs with the best rewards for top customers.

Regardless of the bait, people value this resource. If a customer so chooses to deal with you, year after year, you sure as heck better value their loyalty! Similarly, if your wife chooses to deal with you, you better get home to give her that massage instead of playing that extra round of golf.

Phew! So relationships are easy as the Merriam-Webster definition, right? We wish! Just remember to always value the people who truly value you; I can assure you that we will!